Today’s edition of quick hits:
* An intensifying crisis: “Civilians across Ukraine were subjected to intensifying attacks Thursday as Russia’s war entered its third week, bringing growing accusations of war crimes against Moscow over its assault. Fresh strikes hit the besieged southern city of Mariupol, and Ukrainian officials said a Russian airstrike on a hospital a day earlier had killed at least three people, including a child.”
* Also: “News of the deaths came just as the country’s top diplomats met early Thursday for the highest-level talks since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of his democratic neighbor on Feb. 24. The meeting was brief, however, and appeared to produce little progress toward any end to the fighting.”
* A warning to take seriously: “U.S. officials say they are concerned Russia could be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine after the Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of possibly planning a false-flag chemical weapon attack.”
* It’s hard not to get the impression that North Korea gets jealous when other countries get international attention: “North Korea has tested components of a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, the Biden administration said Thursday, in what one senior official described as a ‘serious escalation’ of North Korea’s long-range missile program.”
* This will get us through the end of the fiscal year: “The House passed a massive spending bill Wednesday night to fund the federal government through September and provide nearly $14 billion in aid for Ukraine. The $1.5 trillion bipartisan bill, which now heads to the Senate, is the culmination of months of negotiations on Capitol Hill that included a prolonged stalemate between Democrats and Republicans.”
* Discouraging inflation data: “Inflation kept up its blistering pace in February, and economists say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is triggering even steeper price increases this month.”
* The CDC produces more evidence that mask policies helped protect kids: “School districts that required masks this fall saw significantly fewer coronavirus cases than those where masks were optional, according to a large study of Arkansas schools by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
* I’ll look forward to reading the transcript from this meeting: “Michael Flynn appeared before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Thursday, in response to a subpoena asking him to testify about an Oval Office meeting at which, the panel said, then-President Donald Trump and others discussed seizing voting machines, several people familiar with the matter told NBC News.” * In related news: “The Republican National Committee on Wednesday sued the House panel investigating last year’s attack on the Capitol, arguing the congressional committee is seeking potentially confidential information about RNC members.” * Correcting a misguided Trump-era mess: “The Biden administration on Wednesday restored California’s legal authority to set auto pollution and mileage rules that are tighter than federal standards, a potent climate policy that had been stripped away by former President Donald J. Trump.” * Remember all those concerns that the Trump administration was mishandling the 2020 Census? “The 2020 census undercounted Black, Latino and Indigenous populations while over-counting white and Asian people, according to estimates from a report the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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